4 h 48 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your greatest struggle is keeping your dignity while everyone around you finds you funny?
Charles Pooter, a London clerk, believes his life deserves a diary as much as any famous person's. At The Laurels, his rented house in Holloway, he records the daily business of being respectable. His wife Carrie gently humours him, while tradesmen, neighbours and visiting friends keep giving his pride something to recover from.
In The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith turn small embarrassments into gentle comedy. Pooter's fashionable son Lupin wants a livelier life, and his employer Mr Perkupp's approval matters deeply. Behind the invitations and tiny insults lie money worries, a modest job and one man's longing to count for something.
What you’ll discover
- A diary worth keeping Meet a careful clerk who gives ordinary days the importance he feels they deserve.
- Respectability under pressure Watch tradesmen and neighbours test Pooter's determination to keep his home and dignity intact.
- A lively family contrast Enjoy practical Carrie's calm and fashionable Lupin's teasing beside Pooter's deeply serious view of himself.
- The cost of belonging Feel the worries beneath social hopes when money is tight and approval matters so much.
- Laughter with real warmth Find ordinary decency beneath the pretensions of a man who is painfully, recognisably human.
Who will love it
For readers who love gentle comedy, Victorian London and characters who are funny because they are so human, and anyone who has felt foolish in public.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Pooter proudly begins his diary
- Tradesmen and neighbours test his dignity
- Lupin arrives and the family changes
- A fine party and a public fall
- Trouble at work and money worries
- What the book is about and how it works
Who’s who
- Charles PooterA careful City clerk who keeps the diary, takes himself seriously and longs for respect, comfort and a place in society.
- Carrie PooterHis wife, patient and practical, who keeps the household calm and gently humours her husband's pride.
- Lupin PooterTheir son, young and fashionable, who wants a livelier life than his father's and enjoys teasing him.
- GowingA close friend and joker who visits often and cannot resist poking fun at Pooter.
- CummingsA friendly neighbour and friend who brings news, visits and invitations to the Pooters.
- Mr PerkuppPooter's employer in the City, whose approval means a great deal to the anxious clerk.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Le Journal d’un homme sans importance
by George Grossmith ; Weedon Grossmith · 1888
London clerk Charles Pooter records tiny insults and small disasters as he guards his dignity at The Laurels.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Diary of a Nobody is a comic novel told as the private diary of Charles Pooter, a London clerk. It was written by two brothers.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Pooter proudly begins his diary
The book opens as Charles Pooter explains why he is writing. He has read the memoirs of famous people and thinks his own life is just as interesting. So he sits down each night and records the day. He is a clerk who works in the City of London for a firm headed by Mr Perkupp, and he has held his post for many years.
The house is the first subject. The Laurels is a modest villa, and Pooter loves it. He describes the rooms, the little back garden, and the scraper by the front door where visitors clean their boots. He takes a great interest in the rent and in the small defects a landlord ought to mend.
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What is The Diary of a Nobody about?
It is a comic novel written as the diary of Charles Pooter, a London clerk. He records his home life, friends, work and his son Lupin, and his pride in small things makes him very funny.
Is The Diary of a Nobody a true story?
No. Charles Pooter is an invented character. The Grossmith brothers wrote the book as fiction, first in Punch in 1888 and 1889, and it was published as a book in 1892.
What does Pooterish mean?
The word comes from the hero, Charles Pooter. It describes a person who is fussy, self-important and pompous about small matters, while remaining rather likeable and harmless.
The author
George Grossmith
1847–1912 · English comedian and writer
George Grossmith was born in London in 1847 and died in Folkestone in 1912. He was an English comedian, actor, singer, composer, and writer. He wrote The Diary of a Nobody with his brother Weedon; it appeared as a book in 1892. He also performed in Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
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